1900

E. Fouch and F. Picard develops oxyacetylene torch in France.

1901

Menne invented the Oxygen Lance in Germany.

Soon after Charles Picards invention of the oxyacetylene blowpipe in Paris France, this invention
was called upon to repair a cast iron part on an acetylene pump. Quite by accident, the filler
metal had enough silicon present to prevent the formation of the excessively hard white iron.

1902

President Teddy Roosevelt took over the Panama Canal project from the French.

1904

Concentrated Acetylene Company invents the portable cylinder for the auto headlights.

1905

L. W. Chubb of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing, East Pittsburg, PA, experiments with
electrolytic condensers and rectifiers and found that wires could be connected to aluminum plates.
Also found that copper could be joined in a like manner. When the cells discharged, sparks were
formed.

1907

Two German welders came to the U.S. and formed Siemund-Wienzell Electric Welding Co. and patented
a metal arc welding method. Another German formed company, Enderlein Electric Welding Co. also
started up. This was the beginning of the arc welding industry in the U.S.

Lincoln Electric Company of Cleveland Ohio began by manufacturing electric motors in 1895.
By 1907, Lincoln Electric were manufacturing the first variable voltage DC welding machine.

1907-1914

Oscar Kjellberg (pronounced 'Shellberg') of Sweden and the ESAB (Elektriska Svetsnings-AtkieBolaget)
Company invented the covered or coated electrode by dipping bare iron wire in thick mixtures
of carbonates and silicates. The purpose of the coating was to protect the molten metal from
oxygen and nitrogen. His pioneering of covered electrode development paved the road during the
next twenty years in the research of reliable flux coated electrodes.

1908

Oscar Kjellberg received German Patent No. 231733 for the coated welding
electrode.

1909

Strohmenger developed the Quasi-arc electrode which was wrapped
in asbestos yarn.

The keel of the H.M.S. TITANIC was laid on March 31 at Harland and Wolff shipyard.

Schonner, a physicist with BASF (Badischen Anilen und SodaFabrik) invents the plasma arc system
using a gas vortex stabilized arc.

1910

Charles Hyde of Great Britain is issued a patent for brazing steel tubes. By clamping two pieces
into position, copper is placed in the joints as metallic strips, plating or powder mixed in
a paste. Heated in a hydrogen furnace (oxygen-free atmosphere) and by capillary attraction flows
copper into the joint

1911

H.M.S. TITANIC is launched on May 31.

First attempt to lay 11 miles of pipeline using oxyacetylene welding near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

American physicist (Matters) developed a plasma arc torch for heating a metal fusing furnace.

1912

Lincoln Electric Co. introduced the first welding machines after experimentation started in
1907.

Langmuir gives the "plasma" to a gas or gas mixture brought to such a high temperature
that all diatomic molecules are dissociated and the atoms partially ionized and where all monotomic
gases are fully ionized.

Firecracker welding technique, a version of shielded metal arc welding is patented in Germany.

Strohmenger introduced coated metal electrodes in Great Britain. The electrodes had
a thin wash coating of lime or clay resulting in a stable arc.

Strohmenger obtained US patent covering an electrode coated with a blue asbestos with a binder
of Sodium Silicate (NAXX). This was the first electrode which produced weld metal free of impurities.

1913

Avery and Fisher develop the acetylene cylinder in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1914

A 34 mile pipeline was laid near Enid, Oklahoma using oxyacetylene welding for the oil industry.

1915-1916

Underwater cutting was carried out but interest did not come about until 1926.

1916

1917

Because of a gas shortage in England during World War I, the use electric arc welding to manufacture
bombs, mines, and torpedoes became the primary fabrication method.

1918

Admiralty testing of metal-arc welding on Barge Ac 1320 leads Lloyd's Register to permit metal-arc
welding in main structures on an experimental basis.

1917-1920

During World War I, a Dutchman, Anthony Fokker, began using welding in the production of Fuselages
in German fighter planes.

HMS Fulagar was first all welded hull vessel - Great Britain.

The repair of sabotaged German ships in New York Harbor highlighted the first important use
welding because the German merchant marines tried to destroy the ships boilers on 109 ships.
A team of engineers from a railroad company (possibly the Rock Island Line) was tasked to the
repair. Later, 500,000 troops were delivered to the European War in France using these repaired
ships. The success of the weld repairs catapulted welding to the arena for manufacturing and
repair and dashed it sordid past as a controversial operation.

1919

President Woodrow Wilson established The United States Wartime Welding Committee of the
Emergency Fleet Corporation under the leadership of Dr. Comfort Avery Adams.

Dr. Comfort Avery Adams, held a meeting on January 3rd to form the "American Welding
Society ". The Constitution of this meeting was approved on March 27.

C. J. Holslag used Alternating Current (AC) for welding, but this was not popular
until 1930.

The AWS Constitution of the January meeting was approved on March 27.

Reuben Smith developed and patented the paper-coated electrode. The weld did not leave a slag
and produced an acceptable weld.

1920s

Various welding electrodes were developed:

Mild steels electrodes for welding steels of less than 0.20% carbon;

Higher carbon and alloy electrodes; and

Copper alloy rods.

Researchers found that Oxygen (O2) and Nitrogen (N2) when in contact
with molten metal caused brittle and porous welds.

Alexandre and Langmuir, from General Electric Co., used Hydrogen in chambers to weld. Began
with two carbon electrodes and later switched to Tungsten.

Bundy-Weld of Bundy Company, Detroit Michigan uses sheetmetal coated with a copper paste and
is rolled tightly around itself and placed in a furnace. The brazed joint is formed into one
piece tubing.

The automotive industry began using Automatic Welding with a bare wire fed to the workpiece
to the production of differential housings.

Poughkeepsie Socony (1235 tons), the first all-welded tanker was launched in the USA.

1920

P.O. Nobel of General Electric Company developed automatic welding, using Direct Current
(DC) using the arc voltage to regulate feed rate. Primary use was to repair worn motor
shafts and crane wheels.

The British ship "Fulagar" was constructed by the Cammell-Lairds and launched. In
1924, the ship grounded. A report in the British "Journal of Commerce" (July 17, 1924)
reported that she held steadfast and if rivets were used in the construction, the ship would
surely have opened up and not be able to get off the bank.

After WW I, the Treaty of Versailles limited the Germans from designing and building ships
in excess of 10, 000 tons for armored ships and cruisers not to exceed 6,000 tons. Welding was
an experimental production option before WW I but the Germans used it to develop the next stage
of warships by saving weight whereby the ship could then carry more armament or armor plating
in selected areas.

Torch brazing is in full swing using silver and gold filler metals and mineral fluxes as protective
cover.

1921

Leslie Hancock pioneered flame cutting machine where the burner followed the path of a magnetized
stylus tracking around the contour of a metal template. The stylus is propelled by a gramophone
motor.

1922

"No longer in the tones of a Walt Whitmanesque muscular America, the skyscraper celebrated
the technology that was bringing the world together."

The first issue of the "Proceedings of the American Welding Society" was published
in January (Vol. 1, No. 1). The name was changed in February, the next month, to "Journal
of American Welding Society ".

The Prairie Pipeline Company weld an 8 inch diameter pipeline 140 miles long to carry crude
oil from Mexico to Jacksboro, Texas. The advantage of welding over fittings saved the project
35 percent and the cost of weld, labor and material was $2.00 per welded joint.

1923

Institute of Welding Engineers was formed and headquartered in New York City.

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) was formed by the US Government which was motivated by Thomas
Edison's belief that history demonstrates a relationship between technological innovation and
national security.

1924

1st all-welded steel buildings constructed in U.S. by General Boiler Co. "to the exclusion
of rivets".

Resistance, gas and metallic arc welding in the manufacturing of all steel automobile bodies
at the E.G. Budd Manufacturing Company.

1925

AWS Board of Directors approves "Standardization of Hose Connections for Welding, and
Cutting Torches and Regulators"

AWS held First Welding Show with the National Fall Meeting, 21-23 October, in Boston.

A.O. Smith fabricates a single-piece heavy walled pressure vessel entirely by welding and was PUBLICLY tested
then placed in an oil cracking service.

1926

H.M. Hobart and P.K. Devers used atmospheres of Helium and Argon for welding with a bare rod
inside the atmosphere. Due to the impurities of the inert gases and the corresponding high cost
along with a lack of knowledge about current density, commercial applications were not realized
at this time.

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) employee, P. W. Swain authored a paper "X-ray tests
of weld " which was to have an impact with the welding industry much longer
than the introduction of Atomic Hydrogen Arc Welding. The technique used a gamma-ray radiation
as a shadow method to detect flaws in cast or welded steels. The techniques was used to detect
flaws on the US Navy 9000 tonne heavy cruisers. The process was later identified as a Nondestructive
test method and contributed to the success of developing improved steel castings for the
U.S. Navy.

1928

In East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the Turtle Creek, Americas First All-Welded Railroad Bridge
was erected by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company. Westinghouse used the bridge
to transport the large generators from facilities to the rest of the country by way of the railways.
Weighing in at 20,000 pounds and at 62 foot long, the bridge was manufactured without the use
of rivets, a common method of bridge construction of those days. The testing of the bridge was
completed by driving a locomotive on the bridge. (Information Courtesy of Mr. LaFave)

Code for Fusion Welding and Gas Cutting in Building Construction (predecessor of AWS D1.1)
was issued by the American Welding Society.

1929

Lincoln Electric Co. started production of heavy coated electrodes (Fleetweld 5) and sold the
electrodes to the public. Sues A.O. Smith and wins.

1st European All-Welded bridge in Lowicza, Poland. Designed in 1927 by Professor Stefana Bryly
and spanning the Sludwie River this bridge was still in use as late as 1977, whereby it was being
replaced with a newer highway and bridge which is designed for wider traffic. The Polish Government
planned to move the bridge 80 meters up stream and establish the bridge as a historical monument.
In 1995, AWS President ED Bohnart presented to the Government of Poland, the AWS Historic Welded
Structure Award.

Welding symbols are established by the American Welding Society

General Electric experiments with "Controlled-Atmosphere Brazing", using
hydrogen gas for copper to steel brazes.

Welding conferences are held on the campuses of Lehigh and Syracuse.

1930-1940s

Atomic hydrogen arc welding process developed. Found that hydrogen was liberated releasing
heat, which was 1/2 of the BTU of acetylene. Used primarily for tools steels. Development included
an automatic version of the process.

1930

Specifications for welding electrodes were beginning to be written.

H. M. Hobart issued Patent Number 1746081, for "Arc Welding" and
P. K. Devers was issued Patent Number 1746191 for "Arc Welding" on
Feb 4 for using a concentric nozzle with a wire feed. This became known later as Gas Metal Arc
Welding (GMAW). Work was based on various atmospheres in 1926.

Germany started development work to find a suitable substitute for their dwindling supply of
critical alloys. Experiments in the U.S. and Germany found that Thermoplastics when heated could
be pressed together and obtain a permanent bond. In 1938 this principle was incorporated into "Hot
Gas" welding technique. Thermoplastic rod and sheet were heated simultaneously by
a stream of hot air while the rod was pressed into the sheet causing a bond. World War II forced
Germany to further develop and use welded Thermoplastic as a corrosion resistant structural material.

Stud Welding (SW) was developed by the New York Navy Yard to fasten
wood to steel.

Submerged arc welding developed by National Tube Co. in McKeesport,
PA by Robinoff. Later sold rights to Linde Air Products and renamed UNION-MELT. Used in late
30s and early 40s in shipyards and ordnance factories.

1st all-welded merchant ship was built in Charleston, South Carolina.

Advancements in protective atmospheres that dissociate chromium oxide from the surface of stainless
steel are performed in furnaces without the mineral flux and were found in laboratories with
no commercial equivalence.

1931

E. G. Budd Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia spot welded stainless steel (18-8) and built
the Privateer. The spot-welding was a process called "shotwelding" a
proprietary process developed by E.G. Budd.

Combustion Engineering shipped the first commercial land boiler fabricated by ASME welding
code to Fisher Body Div. of General Motors Corporation.

1932

Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) developed by National Tube Co. in
McKeesport, PA by Robinoff. Later sold rights to Linde Air Products and renamed UNION-MELT. Used
in late 30s and early 40s in shipyards and ordnance factories.

British Corporation Register and Lloyd's introduce revised rules and approvals for the use
of welding on ships.

1933

Lincoln Electric Co. published 1st edition of "Procedure Handbook
of Arc Welding Design and Fabrication" with the purpose to have its customers use
arc welding efficiently. As a full service company, this book provided the customers a knowledge
of welding education and training.

English Antiquarian, H. A. P. Littledale patents the "Littledale Process (British
Patent No. 415,181)", following the same approach that Pliny and Theophilus wrote
about from the past two millenniums. Mixing copper salts with seccotine glue ultimately would
produce the following reaction {CuO+C -> Cu + CO} which is where brazing would theoretically
be reached. The temperature the reaction takes place: 850C.

1934

In Scotland, welding was beginning to be recognized as a separate crafts trade and the Trade
Unions were opposed to this recognition. The General Secretary of the Boilermaker's Union
argued that it was unfair to condemn any young man to a lifetime of welding. (Scotland).
The Shipbuilding Employers insisted on the separate recognition.

Westinghouse introduces the "Ignitron" which would become the basis for resistance
welding timing controllers.

American Welding Society presents John C. Lincoln the Samuel Wylie Miller Medal for "Meritorious
Achievement". The award cited him for his work on the variable voltage machine, the ductility
and strength of welds, the carbon arc automation process, and his efforts to expand the use of
welding in many industries.

1935

Granulated flux developed in 1932 and a continuous bare wire feed became known as "Submerged
Arc Welding (SAW)" and saw major applications in shipbuilding and
pipe fabrication (see 1932 for a different account).

Solid extruded electrodes are introduce in Britain and subsequently the first British welding
electrode standard written.

Welding has "Arrived" when London, England hosts 900 attendees at the "Great
Symposium" on the "Welding of Iron and Steel"

Solar Aircraft Company of San Diego California develops a flux to combat welding problems with
stainless steel manifolds for the U.S. Navy and was regarded as a closely-guarded military secret.
Where flux is applied to the front of the weld, this was placed on the backside of weld, protecting
from oxide formation. Later, the product was developed further to accommodate the Heliarc process.

1937

Norman Cole and Walter Edmonds, metallurgists from California are granted a patent for their
product named "Colmonoy". Derived from COLe and edMONds and allOY.

1938

The Welding Handbook, First Edition was printed and edited by William
Sparagen and D. S. Jacobus.

Pressure vessel industry began implementing the high production value of Automatic Welding.

The German Shipbuilding Industry uses welding extensively to reduce the weight of warships
and increase the overall size of the ship. This restriction was put in place after World War
I.

K. K. Madsen of Denmark describes Gravity Welding as a specialized electrode holder and the
mechanism which will maintain a covered electrode in contact with the workpiece.

A.F. Wall purchases Colmonoy and renames to Wall-Colmonoy (Detroit).

1939

Floyd C. Kelly of General Electric publishes "Properties of Brazed 12% Chrome Steel" as
an early investigation of the strength of brazed joints. Aluminum Spot Welding saw application
in the Aviation Industry. He describes:

1940

1941

Engineers at Northrup Aircraft Co. and Dow Chemical Co. developed the GMAW process for welding
magnesium, and later licensed it to Linde Co. with a water cooled, small diameter electrode wires
using CV power. Because of the high cost of inert gas, the cost savings were not recognized until
much later.

PLUTO - PipeLine Under The Ocean was created using
the Flash Weld (FW) process for 1000 miles of 3 inch diameter pipe,
to assist in the invasion of Normandy Beach, France. Once in place, the pipeline began pumping
1 million gallons of petrol per day directly to depots deep in the French country side.

1942

Chief of Research, V. H. Pavlecka, and engineer Russ Meredith of Northrup Aircraft Inc. designed
the Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) process to weld magnesium and
stainless steel. Alternate names are TIG (tungsten inert gas) and Argonarc and Heliarc. Heliarc
is the term originally applied to the GTAW process. (Patent Number 2274631, 24 February 1942).

The invention of GTAW was probably the most significant welding process developed specifically
for the aircraft industry and remained so until recently, with the Friction Sir Weld process
of the 1990's. Mr. Northrup of Northrup Aircraft Inc. was a visionary who wanted an all-welded
aircraft (i.e., manufacturing costs, and lightweightness of the aircraft). Meredith was working
from research of Devers and Hobart at General Electric (1920s) who had experimented with tungsten
arcs in non-oxidizing atmospheres. The high reactivity of magnesium (Northrup's dream metal)
would cause problems with more conventional processes, so, Meredith to began developing a torch
with better handling characteristics and would use inert gas enshrouding tungsten. Thus, the
Heli-arc process.

From the Dec 1942 Welding Journal: "The full importance of arc welding on the future of
magnesium alloys cannot be fully appreciated at this time but the fabrication of these strong
light alloys has opened the possibilities that were not considered even a year ago. For the man
in industry, this method of joining offers simplicity of structure, ease and speed of fabrication
and over-all economy."

US Patent 2269369, Jan 6, 1942 issued to George Hafergut
for Firecracker Welding.

Traveling 285 miles north of Edmonton Canada and barging 1100 miles north to the Norman Well
refinery a base camp was setup to build the Canadian Oil (CANOL) project. Working for 20 months,
1800 miles of pipeline was laid along side of 2000 miles of road. The last weld was laid on 1
February 1944. On 1 April 1945 the wells were shut down.

Second Edition of the Welding Handbook was printed and issued.

SAW proves it worthiness during World War II with the building of the Liberty Ships.

G.L. Hopkins of Woolrich Arsenal defines the problem of cracking in alloy steels and hydrogen
in welding electrodes.

1943

Union-Melt is now commonly referred to as Submerged Arc Welding
(SAW). The process used rods rather than wire filler metal and could weld work pieces
up to 2 -1/2 inches thick.

Sciaky (USA) markets the three-phase resistance welder.

1944

1st Low-hydrogen electrodes used in fabrication of alloy armor tanks vehicles by the Heil Corp
in response to the chrome and nickel shortages from World War II for the U.S. Army.

The Bureau of Navy Aeronautics designed and E. G. Budd Mfg. built the "Conestoga",
a stainless steel aircraft. Despite the success of the aircraft, aluminum and rivets became the
influencing factor in aircraft design.

1945

After World War II, the Allies brought from Germany the alloy combination, 85Ag-15Mn which
has a 1760°F brazing temperature.

High Frequency (HF) stabilized AC tungsten-arc welding is used for aluminum alloys.

1947

The Final Report of a Board of Investigation, ordered by the Secretary of the Navy, "To
Inquire Into The Design and Methods of Construction of Welded Steel Merchant Vessels, 15 July
1946" was issued.

Canadian Welding Bureau was created as a division of the Canadian Standards Association

The Austrian Welding Society is formed and publishes a monthly magazine "Schweisstechnik"

Nicrobraz, developed by Robert Peaslee of Wall-Colmonoy, is a
2500°F nickel alloy braze filler metal used in hydrogen furnaces. Used for stainless steel fuel
supply connecting injectors to injector pumps for 18 cylinder reciprocating engines. The fledgling
aircraft engine industry needed something else for engines to experience a hot shutdown without
blowing the silver braze filler metal out from the brazed joints. Typical alloy was 85Ag-15Mn
(BAg-23).

1948

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees established the Department of Welding Engineering on
January 1 as the first of its kind for a Welding Engineering curriculum at a University. OSU
pioneered the Welding Engineering through an emphasis in the Industrial Engineering Department
the previous nine years. The advantages of this engineering degree is 1) Enable satisfactory
administration of problems relating to education and research in the welding field. 2) Recognition
is given to the Welding Engineer as an entity among applied sciences. 3) A degree is authorized
which is descriptive of a particular discipline imposed in training for professional work in
the field.

Air Reduction Company develops the Inert-Gas Metal-Arc (MIG) process.

SIGMA Welding (Shielded Inert Gas Metal Arc) was developed to
weld plate greater than1/8 inch instead of the "Heli-Arc" welding process. The arc
is maintained in a shield of argon gas between the filler metal electrode and the workpiece.
No flux is used. Licensed by Linde Air Products Co.

1948-1949

Curtiss-Wright Corporation looks at brazing as a strong, lightweight process for durable assemblies.

1949

American Westinghouse introduces and markets welding machines using Selenium Rectifiers.